Tag

Duty of Candour

Recommendations related to duty of candour

34 recommendations 91% accepted

Tag overview

Government Response
Accepted (23)
Accepted in Part (8)
Not Accepted (1)
Awaiting Response (2)
Recommendations in This Theme

recommendation across 8 inquiries

Across 8 inquiries

Tagged Recommendations

34 total
AFA-1 Response Pending Urology Services Inquiry

Patient focus and complaints

The Inquiry recommends that the Trust and Department work together to ensure there is: • A specific programme of work to strengthen patient involvement, improve communication, and ensure patients and …

No formal government response has been recorded for this recommendation. No independent verification has been carried out.
Southern Health and Soci…
R104 Response Pending Muckamore Abbey Inquiry

Statutory duty of candour

A statutory duty of candour should now be enacted in Northern Ireland so that: (i) Every healthcare organisation and everyone working for them must be open and honest in all …

No formal government response has been recorded for this recommendation. No independent verification has been carried out.
Department of Health NI
IBI-4a(i) Accepted Infected Blood Inquiry

Duty of Candour - Northern Ireland

Duty of candour: A statutory duty of candour in healthcare should be introduced in Northern Ireland.

- The Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt committed to advance proposals for an organisational duty of candour, and to consider a statutory individual duty …
Northern Ireland Executi…
IBI-4a(ii) Accepted Infected Blood Inquiry

Duty of Candour - Scotland and Wales Review

Duty of candour: The operation of the duties of candour in healthcare in Scotland and in Wales should be reviewed, as it is being in England, to assess how effective …

- The Scottish Government stated in December 2024 that the organisational duty of candour under the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 …
UK Government Scottish Government
IBI-4a(iii) Accepted Infected Blood Inquiry

Duty of Candour - England Review

Duty of candour: The review of the duty of candour currently under way in England should be completed as soon as practicable.

- The Government stated in December 2024 that the review of the statutory duty of candour in England had been completed, with findings published on …
UK Government
IBI-4a(iv) Accepted in Part Infected Blood Inquiry

Individual Duty of Candour for Leaders

Statutory duty of candour: The statutory duties of candour in England, Scotland, Wales (and Northern Ireland, when introduced) should be extended to cover those individuals in leadership positions in the …

- The Government stated in December 2024 that it had accepted this recommendation in principle and launched a 12-week consultation on regulating NHS managers in …
UK Government
IBI-5a Accepted in Part Infected Blood Inquiry

Civil Service Statutory Duty of Candour

The Government should reconsider whether, in the light of the facts revealed by this Inquiry, it is sufficient to continue to rely on the current non-statutory duties in the Civil …

- The Government stated in December 2024 that the Prime Minister had committed to legislation introducing a statutory duty of candour for public authorities and …
UK Government
DM-17 Accepted in Part Daniel Morgan Panel

Statutory duty of candour for law enforcement

The Panel recommends the creation of a statutory duty of candour, to be owed by all law enforcement agencies to those whom they serve, subject to protection of national security …

Government response: Accepted in Part. No public evidence of delivery has been found.
Home Office
14 Accepted Paterson Inquiry

Board apologies

We recommend that when things go wrong, boards should apologise at the earliest stage of investigation and not hold back from doing so for fear of the consequences in relation …

- The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 established a statutory duty of candour for NHS trusts in 2014 and all …
Department of Health and…
IHRD-1 Accepted Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Statutory Duty of Candour

A statutory duty of candour should now be enacted in Northern Ireland so that: (i) Every healthcare organisation and everyone working for them must be open and honest in all …

- The available evidence indicates that this recommendation is not implemented. The February 2026 Being Open Framework expressly says that it does not create the …
Northern Ireland Executi…
IHRD-2 Accepted in Part Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Criminal Liability for Candour Breach

Criminal liability should attach to breach of this duty and criminal liability should attach to obstruction of another in the performance of this duty.

- The Department of Health NI stated in March 2018 that criminal liability for breach of the duty of candour was under review (IHRD Implementation …
Northern Ireland Executi…
IHRD-3 Accepted in Part Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Guidance on Statutory Duty of Candour

Unequivocal guidance should be issued by the Department to all Trusts and their legal advisors detailing what is expected of Trusts in order to meet the statutory duty.

- The Department of Health NI stated in March 2018 that guidance was being developed in conjunction with the statutory duty of candour legislation (IHRD …
Northern Ireland Executi… Department of Health NI
IHRD-4 Accepted in Part Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Trust Awareness of Duty of Candour

Trusts should ensure that all healthcare professionals are made fully aware of the importance, meaning and implications of the duty of candour and its critical role in the provision of …

- The Department of Health NI reported that work to raise awareness of the duty of candour among healthcare staff was being taken forward (IHRD …
Northern Ireland Executi… HSC Trusts
IHRD-5 Accepted Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Employment Contracts and Duty of Candour

Trusts should review their contracts of employment, policies and guidance to ensure that, where relevant, they include and are consistent with the duty of candour.

- The Department of Health NI reported that contractual obligations relating to the duty of candour were under development (IHRD Implementation Programme, Department of Health …
Northern Ireland Executi… HSC Trusts
IHRD-6 Accepted Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Support for Candour Compliance

Support and protection should be given to those who properly fulfil their duty of candour.

- The Department of Health NI reported that support mechanisms for staff exercising the duty of candour were being developed (IHRD Implementation Programme, Department of …
Northern Ireland Executi… HSC Trusts
IHRD-7 Accepted Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Monitoring Candour Compliance

Trusts should monitor compliance and take disciplinary action against breach.

- The Department of Health NI reported that compliance monitoring for the duty of candour was being considered (IHRD Implementation Programme, Department of Health NI, …
Northern Ireland Executi… HSC Trusts
IHRD-72 Accepted Hyponatraemia Inquiry

Candour in Trust Communications

All Trust publications, media statements and press releases should comply with the requirement for candour and be monitored for accuracy by a nominated non-executive Director.

- HSC Trusts reported that medical director responsibilities for patient safety had been formally defined (IHRD Implementation Programme, Department of Health NI, March 2018). - …
HSC Trusts
11 Accepted Morecambe Bay Investigation

Raise awareness of incident reporting and duty of candour

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust should identify and implement a programme to raise awareness of incident reporting, including requirements, benefits and processes. The Trust should also …

- In July 2015, the government stated that the Trust had "begun to review how investigations into incidents are carried out and started a programme …
University Hospitals of …
24 Accepted Morecambe Bay Investigation

Involve patients and relatives in incident investigation

We commend the introduction of the duty of candour for all NHS professionals. This should be extended to include the involvement of patients and relatives in the investigation of serious …

- In July 2015, the government stated: "We accept this recommendation" and confirmed that the organisational duty of candour was now in force as a …
CQC
F173 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Principles of openness transparency and candour

Every healthcare organisation and everyone working for them must be honest, open and truthful in all their dealings with patients and the public, and organisational and personal interests must never …

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that a statutory Duty of Candour was introduced in 2014 …
Healthcare providers
F174 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Candour about harm

Where death or serious harm has been or may have been caused to a patient by an act or omission of the organisation or its staff, the patient (or any …

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the statutory Duty of Candour and the Patient Safety …
Healthcare providers
F175 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Candour about harm

Full and truthful answers must be given to any question reasonably asked about his or her past or intended treatment by a patient (or, if deceased, to any lawfully entitled …

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the joint duty of candour guidance by the Nursing …
Healthcare providers
F176 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Openness with regulators

Any statement made to a regulator or a commissioner in the course of its statutory duties must be completely truthful and not misleading by omission.

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the statutory Duty of Candour applies to statements made …
Healthcare providers
F177 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Openness in public statements

Any public statement made by a healthcare organisation about its performance must be truthful and not misleading by omission.

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the NHS Standard contract includes requirements to ensure submissions …
Healthcare providers
F178 Accepted in Part Mid Staffs Inquiry

Implementation of the duty Ensuring consistency of obligations under the duty of openness transparency and candour

The NHS Constitution should be revised to reflect the changes recommended with regard to a duty of openness, transparency and candour, and all organisations should review their contracts of employment, …

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the NHS Constitution was updated in February 2024 to …
Department of Health and…
F180 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Candour about incidents

Guidance and policies should be reviewed to ensure that they will lead to compliance with Being Open, the guidance published by the National Patient Safety Agency.

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the 'Being Open' guidance has been superseded by the …
Healthcare providers
F181 Accepted in Part Mid Staffs Inquiry

Enforcement of the duty Statutory duties of candour in relation to harm to patients

A statutory obligation should be imposed to observe a duty of candour: On healthcare providers who believe or suspect that treatment or care provided by it to a patient has …

- Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 established a statutory duty of candour for all CQC-regulated providers …
Department of Health and…
F182 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Statutory duty of openness and transparency

There should be a statutory duty on all directors of healthcare organisations to be truthful in any information given to a healthcare regulator or commissioner, either personally or on behalf …

- The Department of Health and Social Care stated in April 2025 that this recommendation is addressed through the statutory Duty of Candour and the …
Department of Health and…
F183 Not Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Criminal liability

It should be made a criminal offence for any registered medical practitioner, or nurse, or allied health professional or director of an authorised or registered healthcare organisation: Knowingly to obstruct …

- The government did not accept this recommendation in its 2013 response (Hard Truths: the journey to putting patients first, DHSC, November 2013). - The …
Department of Health and…
F184 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Enforcement by the Care Quality Commission

Observance of the duty should be policed by the Care Quality Commission, which should have powers in the last resort to prosecute in cases of serial non-compliance or serious and …

- The Department of Health and Social Care stated in April 2025 that the CQC has implemented this recommendation and it remains an ongoing piece …
CQC
F274 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Information to coroners

There is an urgent need for unequivocal guidance to be given to trusts and their legal advisers and those handling disclosure of information to coroners, patients and families, as to …

- The National Medical Examiner stated in April 2025 that records of medical examiner scrutiny should be shared with bereaved families where possible, following an …
Department of Health and…
F28 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Sanctions and interventions for non-compliance

Zero tolerance: A service incapable of meeting fundamental standards should not be permitted to continue. Breach should result in regulatory consequences attributable to an organisation in the case of a …

- The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 created criminal offences for wilful neglect or ill-treatment by care workers and provider organisations (Criminal Justice and …
CQC
F5 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Clarity of values and principles

In reaching out to patients, consideration should be given to including expectations in the NHS Constitution that: Staff put patients before themselves; They will do everything in their power to …

- The NHS Constitution was updated in July 2015 to incorporate expectations regarding the statutory duty of candour and strengthened patient and staff rights (NHS …
Department of Health and…
F70 Accepted Mid Staffs Inquiry

Duty of utmost good faith

A duty of utmost good faith should be imposed on applicants for foundation trust status to disclose to the regulator any significant information material to the application and to ensure …

- The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England stated in April 2025 that the policy position has changed and no further Foundation …
Monitor